Gov. Perry: Indictment 'Amounts To Nothing'

Texas Gov. Rick Perry makes a statement regarding his indictment on charges of abuse of power at the Texas state capitol, in Austin, Texas, on Saturday.

Ashley Landis
/ EPA/Landov

Originally published on August 17, 2014 3:24 pm

Updated at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has been charged with felony counts of abuse of power over his veto of funding for a public corruption office, fired back today, calling the indictment politically motivated.

"I did nothing wrong," the potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate said at a brief news conference in Austin, Texas.

"This indictment amounts to nothing more than an abuse of power, and I cannot and I will not allow that to happen," Perry told reporters.

"I think there are a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who see it for what it is — a political decision," he said. "This farce of a prosecution will be revealed for what it is."

Perry said he stands by his veto, a day after a grand jury charged him with two felony counts.

"Given that information and given that choice again, that is exactly what I would do," he said.

"I am going to continue to do my job and deal with big, important issues," the governor said, mentioning the immigration crisis on the Texas border.

As The Associated Press writes:

"The indictments are related to Perry vetoing funding for a Travis County unit investigating public corruption last year because the Democratic official heading the office refused to resign after being convicted of drunken driving.

"The investigative unit is based in Austin, a heavily Democratic city where the grand jury was seated. The rest of Texas is heavily Republican."

For a more detailed look at the circumstances surrounding Friday's indictment, we published this earlier.